


Among the Crows

by Lord_Sunder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alice's power is a bit different, Angst, Bird/Human Hybrids, Bisexual Female Character, Crossover - Potterverse Setting, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Legilimency, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Magical History/Politics, Non-Canon American Setting, POV First Person, Self-Hatred, Self-Reflection, Slow Burn, Veela Characters, Veela Mates (non-standard), Witch Bella Swan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-04-07 19:40:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19091764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Sunder/pseuds/Lord_Sunder
Summary: When Bella Swan left the Salem Witches' Institute to stay with her dad, she expected a muggle vacation to give her mom time with her new mate.She never wanted to find hers.A Potterverse reimagining of Twilight.





	1. What I've Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella leaves home for the last time.

Flames roared green as I withdrew my hand from the pitcher. My second pinch of floo powder, since I’d already wasted the first trying to work up the courage to leave. Leaving Salem was always the hardest part, and now I was leaving it for good. I’d just graduated, you see, and in the meantime my mother had found her mate. Which meant that if I went to live with her, I would be living by myself, with the pair of them leaving their bedroom only for (shared) bathroom breaks. I was happy for her, but if I had a choice between dealing with that and taking a holiday to visit my dad... it wasn’t really much of a choice. Still, I couldn’t help but be apprehensive about staying there.

 

It wasn’t really Charlie’s —I mean, my dad’s— fault, but more a matter of geography. Small towns aren’t good for veela. Not enough places to get away from admirers, and everybody knows Billy-Bob wants you in the sack, especially when you have a strong aura like mine. I’m actually quite plain, but because my mother was a demonic bird-entity, I tend to involuntarily rape peoples’ brains until they think I’m pretty. It’s really quite easy to learn to loathe yourself, if you have a conscience.

 

The great clock tower of Salem Witches’ Institute rang suddenly, startling me, and I glanced out into the piercing midday light as birds scattered from the rooftops of the distant tower. A bittersweet pang of nostalgia shot through me. I’d spent a lot of time on that roof, holed up with books and whatever else took my fancy, with only the birds for company. Oh, sure, I had friends here, but not close ones. They’d already left, never to return, and now it was time for me to take the plunge into the unknown world beyond school.

 

The fire having burned through the floo I’d supplied, I reached for the pitcher again, staring into the flames. I felt bad for wasting school resources like that, but third time’s the charm, right? A roar of expanding air, and the floo portal opened once more. Fire harmlessly licked my worn black boots as I said the words, thinking of Charlie’s house.

 

“Charlie Swan’s residence, number three, Cedar Avenue.”

 

~~~

 

I saw stars, my head swirling dizzyingly as the pain finally registered. My head hurt like hell, and I could already feel it swelling. Did the floo vortex smack me on purpose, or was there something in the way? The fire at my feet petered out, but I caught a glimpse of cramped brickwork and wooden boards. Oh, so that was the problem then. I heard footsteps nearby, and hastily pulled out my vinewood wand, whispering ‘ _Avifors’_ and pointing it at the barrier. Light cascaded in as the boards, now crows, took flight and my father swore loudly.

 

“Bells? That you?” he said, as I stared at his drawn gun, not sure what to say. He was blushing, his pistol shaking in his grip. Oh God, why was I so messed up? I clamped down hard on my natural allure, biting my tongue so that the pain overrode my natural inclination to invoke lust.

 

“U-um… hi, Dad,” I said quietly, giving him a weak little wave. Immediately, the safety was on, and he was moving closer to push the electric fire out of the way. I blinked, my head throbbing, as I realised that I was covered with soot from the old fireplace, muttering a hasty cleaning charm as I clambered out.

 

“Thought you’d give me a call when your flight was in… damn, Bella—” he cut off as one of the crows let out a harsh clicking sound, pecking insistently at the window. A smile made its way to my face as I reached out, allowing it to hop on. Birds tended to be more friendly to us, even wild ones, like they recognized us as one of their own.

 

“I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to have to ferry me around, dad. I mean, what were the odds of you getting an electric fireplace? I should’ve been more careful,” I said, rubbing my bump. Awkward silence followed, until he finally clasped my shoulder, his eyes crinkling at the edges. I felt a sharp ache as it finally broke through just how much this man had missed me. Damn it, dad… why didn’t you say anything?

 

“Good to have you back, Bells.”

 

I impulsively drew closer, the remaining crows scattering, laughingly throwing my arms around his waist. He stiffened, but hesitantly hugged me back. And somehow, I knew that living in Forks with him might not be so bad after all.

 

~~~

 

Forget what I said. Have I ever mentioned how much it sucks to be under the age of majority in the muggle world? Well, it does. I’m somehow trusted to teleport across the state without leaving half my spleen behind, but the moment I even think about touching beer, everybody loses their mind. That, and I’m apparently meant to go to a muggle school for the duration. To blend in, you understand, and for a regular witch that might have been fine. For me, I don’t even know how that was meant to work, because it just seemed to be a disaster in the making. There was a reason I’d gone to an all girls school, and even then I wasn’t entirely safe from unwanted advances.

 

I had no idea what to expect, as I unpacked my shrunken storage trunk in the cramped spare bedroom. I liked that it was small, though. It was cozy, and if I had to change, the window was wide enough that I think I could probably fit through. Luckily, I didn’t really change into a weird bird demon at the drop of a hat anymore, though fifth year was crazy for that. One wrong word to me and ‘poof’, flames and feathers everywhere. Oh-three was an expensive year for clothes shopping.

 

I’d have to buy some books, I realized then. Lots of books. While I’d grown up around muggles, I’d jumped ship at the end of elementary school, which meant a lot of missed classes. I’d tried to keep up with summer classes for a while, but after my aura developed, that plan went horribly downhill. So I’d probably come across as terminally retarded, if I even passed an entry exam. Still, I maybe had time to make up some lost ground over the summer. My eyes flicked to the empty shelves on the far side of the bed, grinning to myself. Yes, those will do nicely.

 

A crack of thunder, and the rain hammering on the window got incrementally louder. Yup, looks like outside activities are on a permanent hiatus. It might come as a surprise, but there’s nothing sadder looking than a soggy veela. As creatures of fire, it suppresses our powers something fierce, not to mention it’s extremely unpleasant. I mean, you can kind of work around it, but it’s harder than working without the water, if you catch my drift. I suppose I had an easier time of it than a pureblood veela, with wand magic to fall back on, to my mother’s eternal envy, but back in Phoenix it barely ever rained like this. At least there’s no risk of sunburn, I guess. My skin oscillated violently between milkbottle and lobster, depending on the weather. Apparently I managed to make it work, but that’s probably the aura clogging up peoples’ brains.

 

“Dinner, Bells?” My dad called up, interrupting my zen consideration of shelving units, and I felt my face flush. It’s not like anyone could see me, but I’m a little weird like that, and it felt like I’d been caught dancing in the nude or something.

 

“I’ll be down in a sec!” I called, thanking the student gods as I murmured ‘ _pack_ ’, the half-assed packing charm haphazardly causing clothes to fly into my closet. I wasn’t particularly concerned for now. The real anxiety would come later, when I’d have to dress up for muggles who weren’t in the know.

 

Dinner was, unfortunately, a dreary affair of pizza and oven fries. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like pizza as much as the next girl, but shouldn’t a guy of my dad’s age be able to cook at least a little? I sighed, knowing that my french ancestors were spinning furiously in their graves, but quickly devoured the offered food. It really wasn’t bad, and I thanked my dad between bites. Dad was awkwardly quiet for most of the meal, watching the television out of the corner of his eye, and it made my heart hurt a little to watch him. By the time I made some friends in third year, I’d been alone for so long that I barely knew how to talk to people anymore. I still didn’t, to tell the truth, so I might have panicked just a little when he tried to talk shop with me.

 

“Hey, dad, would it be okay if we picked up some textbooks in Port Angeles this week? I, uhm… I sort of have a lot to catch up on this summer,” I said quietly, as I dried the dishes.

 

He raised an eyebrow at that, giving me an appraising look. “What’d they teach you at that school of yours? The bird thing?”

 

I waggled my fingers menacingly. Fear my powers of ornithomancy, fool! “Yeah, stuff like that. I’m licensed to apparate and everything, but they weren’t too hot on math, and I don’t think I’m allowed to mention the goblins in American history class.”

 

He gave me a minute frown, still obviously paying attention to the game to some degree. “Guess it’s complicated, huh.... apparting is that thing where you teleport, right? Ren— your mother told me, once,” he said haltingly. My eyes flicked to the pictures on the mantle, to the pictures of Renee that still lingered, and I hurriedly turned back to the dishes.

 

“Yeah. It’s apparating though, Dad. Look, do I really have to do this? Can’t you just say I’m being home schooled here?” I pressed. He turned to me, muting the football for a moment, and I knew then that he was truly serious.

 

“Look Bells, I don’t know what weirdness people put up with in Phoenix, and I don’t rightly care. You’re my daughter, and it’d be suspicious as all hell if I’m in work and you’re being ‘schooled’ at home.” He huffed quietly, his eyes softening. “I’ll help you catch up though, if I can, and maybe a few of the kids around here’d be willing to lend a hand.”

 

He was right, damn him. And it would be an excellent opportunity to learn something new, even if it meant putting up with the constant harassment from boys. That makes me sound horrible, since it’s not really their fault, but it didn’t make their reactions any easier to deal with. Are girls’ clubs even a thing? Maybe I could suggest something, once the problem was obvious…

 

“No boys, please…” I murmured, as I finished up the washing. I heard a quiet ‘oh’, and turned just in time to catch my dad’s eyes skitter back to the television. My aura, the natural field that surrounds an adult veela, was raging around me, and I dug my nails into the palm of my hand, splashing a little water from the sink over my face. I’d rather eat linoleum than be wet, and my nose closed up like I had a bad cold almost immediately, but I’d put up with it for his sake.

 

“That’s fine, Bells,” he replied. More than fine, I bet, given the way he used to glare at Jake. “Just… try to keep it down in the house,” he continued quietly, and I nodded, giving a pained smile. Some days it feels like I’ll burst if I don’t let it out, so maybe I could just sneak off at night or something, and play in the woods. My room certainly had a big enough window. Yes, that would do nicely.

 

~~~

 

Forks was a weird little town. Rich, I know, coming from the bird-demon witch, but hear me out. I don’t quite know what it was about the place, but it had this sort of ‘pull’ that I could feel when I was outside. It was like some weird, disused, dinosaur part of my brain was trying to say that this was an ideal site to hatch my eggs, if that made any sense. And the people were strange, too. Not exactly Innsmouth strange, but there was a certain look that seemed to be going around all the same. Take the lady I met in the grocery store the second night I was back...

 

I breezed in at around eight PM, intent on grabbing some fresh, unsalted vegetables for the pantry, and at first everything was fine. Quiet as the grave, and the lights had a nasty habit of flickering whenever I was near, but that can’t really be helped. Wand magicians can put down their wand, but I can’t exactly tear out the Greek fire grafted to my soul, so it’s just another weird little thing about the veela lifestyle. Wearing rubber gloves to answer a mobile phone gets old really fast, but while I had apparently reached a state of enlightenment from contemplating the potatoes, a woman caught my eye.

 

I don’t even know why it happened, but she was definitely one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, and that included my mother’s flock. If not for the lack of aura, I’d say she was some sort of siren herself. Inhumanly smooth skin, gorgeous wavy brown hair, and bright yellow eyes that just screamed ‘magical creature blood’. Call me racist, but I like to know what kind of Being I’m dealing with. Some of us bite. In any case, she must’ve noticed me staring, because she walked over, a motherly smile crossing her face. I froze up, weighing the social risk of diving behind the potato bags.

 

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around these parts before. Might you be Charlie Swan’s daughter?” She said, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear. I swallowed, watching the motion awkwardly. Even the way it glinted was subtly _off_ , but then most didn’t have eyesight as good as mine.

 

“B-Bella, yes. I mean, my name’s Isabella Swan, ma’am,” I blurted, holding out my hand. I figure my face must have been red as a tomato. I really, really needed to get out more, and talk to people who weren’t family.

 

“Esme Cullen,” she returned, taking my hand gracefully. My nerves jangled, her skin clammy and cold against mine. I caught a vague hint of a minty sort of smell under her perfume, and combined with the other features, I was almost certain this woman was some sort of magical half-blood. “Carlisle, my husband, said that your father seemed over the moon, and I suspect that now I know why. Welcome to Forks,” Esme murmured, smiling warmly. I realized I was still holding her hand, and hurriedly let go.

 

“Sorry,” I muttered.

 

“It’s quite alright, dear,” she said. Again, my nerves jangled at that faint minty smell. Still, my nose is barely up to human standards. Birds aren’t really known for their sense of smell, you see, though my eyesight is scarily good. I blinked, realising she was looking at me expectantly.

 

“How are you enjoying your stay so far?” She repeated patiently, apparently aware that I’d been off in the clouds.

 

“It’s been great, apart from the weather…” Don’t talk about the weather, Bella, I chastised myself. “I-I mean, my dad’s been really good about things, and it was at quite short notice, so I’m just trying to settle in for some studying, I think.”

 

Her eyes widened, “So early in the year?”

 

I shrugged noncommittally, “I was home schooled, so I have a lot to catch up on. Don’t want to end up back in third grade, or something.” A little white lie to explain my absence from the public school system. Renee even held a fake permit to teach me, issued by the Ministry of Whispers, to help with that excuse.

 

Mrs Cullen tittered at my lame little joke, leaning against the vegetable counter. “Well, if you need any help, my youngest had the same problem last year.”

 

I smiled, my mind still ticking over the available information, “Thanks, Mrs Cullen. I’ll keep that in mind.” Well, at least the woman didn’t seem to think I was too weird, though her nose was flaring, like she was trying really hard not to sneeze. Muscles clenched and held still for unnaturally long periods of time. European werewolf, maybe? I would have bet anything that her sense of smell was way better than mine.

 

“Call me Esme, dear. I’m afraid that I really must be going, though. I have five teenagers to feed, and I swear Emmett is becoming more of a black hole every year,” she said, golden eyes shining, but seeming to have darkened to a caramel brown. I blinked. Weird. I thought that only happened in bad romance novels. Mark up another one for the werewolf hypothesis, I suppose. I let out a weak laugh at that, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

 

“Um… of course. It was nice to meet you, Esme.”

 

She nodded, walking off to get her purchases scanned. I was dimly aware that the clerk behind the register had been staring between me and Esme for quite some time, but I had gotten used to that. I bit my lip, keeping the pain in the forefront of my mind as I pulled my unruly aura back into myself. It was hard to suppress, and I’d gotten used to just letting it all hang out back at Salem. It didn’t usually affect women unless they’d already have a reason to be attracted to me, if you catch my drift. Mechanically, I finished packing the vegetables, and went to pay.

 

His name tag read ‘Matt’, and he looked fit to burst, his face was so red. I looked down; my ratty windbreaker and faded jeans weren’t exactly runway model fare, but then most girls don’t come magically airbrushed. I managed to acquire my purchases with the minimal amount of sexual harassment —none is the best amount— and hurried back out into the pouring rain, pulling my hood up against the wind. Dad was parked nearby in his cruiser, and I climbed in, towelling down my face as soon as I was strapped in. Still, I couldn’t exactly leave the thought alone. What other magical beings could Forks be hiding?

 

~~~

 

The summer passed much quicker than I could have expected, a blur of textbooks and endless mock tests. Call me a bookworm, but I actually loved it, at least at first. It was an excuse not to have to deal with people, though Dad made pleasant enough company. That, and he’d invited a girl called Angela to help me study, which was nice. She was very quiet, and much like my dad, she didn’t need to be babysat like my mom did at times, and it was good not to have to deal with her heckling. Not when I did that just fine to myself. Transforming became the highlight of my day — a chance to relieve the stress I loved to pile on myself.

 

I’d been out for a wing around when the nights were clear, always careful to stick to the woods where my ungainly bird form could hide among the trees. Humanoid bodies weren’t really made for flight, and the crows found me quite an amusing sight. I like crows. They look after their own, and somehow that includes me. I’d heard all the places where a crow had been killed back to the eighteen hundreds, I think, because crows are crazy gossips to a fault.

 

So it came as a relief when my results for the qualification tests came back, and I could finally stop stressing myself into nightly visits to the forest. Apparently, despite my lack of a standard muggle education, I had scraped eleventh grade material, and they would be happy to have me in the coming semester. A bit behind the curve, but better than nothing, right? I’d immediately texted Angela, and Charlie had taken the pair of us out to eat. Quite the gentleman, my dad, in his fumbling, gruff sort of way. In the meantime, I’d checked over my old school books on dark creatures, though several possibilities still presented themselves.

 

European werewolf was a strong candidate, as Esme had mentioned having children, and they were common as anything. I blame Europe’s terrible treatment of their native werewolf packs. But the North American vampire was also quite close, given the coldness of her skin. At the same time, though, I couldn’t rule out a stranger hybrid, because vampires were meant to have eyes the color of blood. Lineages can get rather complicated, especially when you factor in more than one magical creature. For all I knew, she was descended from Unseelie Fae, and I could snoop myself into a coma before getting any kind of confirmation one way or the other.

With that done, I had shelved the issue, taking life as it came. Blind speculation was pointless. What really mattered was the evidence, and I suspected that once I was in school, I’d be free to observe.

 

~~~

 

So, as it happened, I found myself getting ready for my first day, when there was a knock on the door in the middle of the afternoon. I still had a few days worth of leeway, but it never hurt to be prepared, right? My magical books were stashed well out of sight from Angela’s visits, though the broomstick in my closet had been a little tricky to explain. I rolled my eyes. Billy Black was back to steal my dad away for another of his fishing trips. It wouldn’t be fair to complain, though, since there were still slabs of fish in the freezer from the last trip.

 

“Bells!” Charlie called up to me, and I momentarily looked around for another Bella, because it wasn’t like Billy had said two words to me since we’d met. I think he found the effects of my aura embarrassing, since my control still wasn’t exactly perfect, and he must be nearing sixty. There was another voice down there, though, so consider my interest piqued.

 

“Coming, Dad!” I shouted back, slipping a bookmark into my math textbook and padding down the stairs. My eyes widened, and I froze in the doorway. “Jake?”

 

The musclebound stranger nodded dumbly, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. That was all the prompting I needed to give him a hug to end all hugs, because while I didn’t really recognize him at first, he was still the first friend I’d ever made. He made that cute little ‘choking on my own spit’ noise that I sometimes hear from guys, and gingerly patted my back.

 

“Guess I don’t have to ask if you remember me?” He said finally, as I let him go. My dad exchanged glances with Billy in the corner of my vision, but I just shook my head, finally registering the unfamiliar vehicle in the drive. It was a giant, ancient looking pickup truck, in a rather appealing shade of red.

 

“You used to like mud pies, and I pushed you in the creek when you tried to feed me one,” I murmured, nudging him in the ribs. Holy crap, it was like poking a brick wall! He chuckled helplessly, covering his mouth.

 

“Hah, yeah… back when I knew how to take a girl out,” he said wryly, and I rolled my eyes. I’d heard worse. I turned back to my dad, who was currently dodging Billy’s playful attempts to ram him in the ankles. Do boys ever grow up? I had my doubts.

 

“Dad, what did you need?” I called, breaking up their tussling. He swaggered up to the truck, slapping a hand against the side.

 

“You got here earlier than I’d expected, so this wasn’t ready. Your homecoming present,” he said gruffly, waving his hand over the truck. I’m not really sure what I was thinking at the time, but I drew in a shaky breath, my chest filling with that kind of indescribable warmth you only get by knowing someone _really_ loves you.

 

“I love it! Thanks, dad. Really, it’s the best!” I gushed, but my joy was tempered by an undercurrent of unease. I’d never learnt to drive anything other than a tractor, so this was a first, regardless of the similarities between the two vehicles. And it was a stick shift, by the look of it. Hopefully I wasn’t to be expected to hop in and drive right now.

 

“Come on up, I’ll show you the works,” Jake called, climbing into the passenger seat. Crap!  Spoke too soon.

 

Gingerly I climbed in, pulling a pair of worn cotton gloves from my pocket. It would be good not to accidentally fry the radio, at least. Jake watched me curiously… well, stared is more accurate, but at least he didn’t comment on my weird little habits. I groaned inwardly. This was going to be a disaster. I could barely remember what order the pedals went in, and my assistant looked to be developing a serious case of puppy face.

 

“You drive a stick before, Bells?” he asked quietly, leaning toward me. I shook my head, adjusting the seat clumsily.

 

“Just a tractor. My uncle taught me, and it wasn’t too hard,” I murmured, biting my lip. Jake snorted, shaking his head.

 

“Well, this is gonna be a bit harder than that. Replaced the engine myself last week, so it might have a little teething trouble at first, but power through and it’ll never break down.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “God himself could not sink this ship,” I quipped, my voice thick with gallows humor. He slapped me on the arm and I laughed, inwardly cursing my pasty complexion. That was probably going to bruise later, and he barely even touched me.

 

“Don’t jinx my work now,” he said, grinning. Don’t worry, captain, this disaster will be one hundred percent operator error. Well, at least I managed to start it okay. I made a very slow, wobbly circuit of the block before he made me pull over, frowning. Not to put my dad down or anything, because this was a great gift, but give me a broomstick any day of the week.

 

“We gotta get you sorted out,” Jake groaned, rubbing his forehead. Can it, drama king, I wasn’t that bad.

 

“I bet my dad can teach me. It doesn’t seem so bad, once you get used to the clutch,” I said. He laughed, but didn’t disagree.

 

“Try to break ten miles per hour on the way back this time, speed queen,” he taunted, and I nudged him again in irritation. Still, we made it back in one piece, and I only stalled it a couple of times. Still, it made me revise my position on being a witch among muggles a little better. A fake driver’s license was a health hazard I’d never even considered.

 

~~~

 

“Isabella Swan, is that correct?” the red haired lady said, peering up at me. I fidgeted, playing with the neckline of my hoodie, and nodded. Not that I ever really got cold, but I liked that hoodie a lot. It smelled like Salem, and on some level that was still home. Not anymore, I thought bitterly. Still, the school seemed nice, from what I’d seen, in that bleached, mundane, muggle sort of way. Peaceful, in a way that an institute of magic just couldn’t afford to be. The lady, one ‘Shelly’ according to her name tag, gave me a bright smile, handing me my schedule and a small map of the school before turning back to her novel. Checking the package, there was also a weird little slip that I was apparently meant to get my teachers to sign.

 

“If you get lost, don’t worry too much, dear. It’s your first day, so just try to focus on keeping calm,” she said absently, and I grimaced, biting back a scathing retort. Focus, Bella, she didn’t mean to imply that you’re a helpless babe who can’t use a map. At least my temper wasn’t as bad as it used to be. She was probably just instinctively reacting to me as competition, as some women did. It sucked, but I’d learnt to deal with it.

 

Grumbling faintly, I crossed the parking lot toward the school proper, since apparently my first class would be English, and I was quite pleased with that. Salem had been quite lax in its teaching of the subject, and so long as our essays were legible, we’d get good marks. It was enough to get by, and to be a parasite in muggle society, but not much more than that. In short, it sucked, and I knew I could do better. Reining in my aura as much as I could, I made my way as swiftly and efficiently as possible toward the classroom, keeping my head down as I went. Curious stares followed me, because I’d never exactly managed to nail ‘inconspicuous’, even without the magical ‘screw me’ spotlight.

 

Needless to say, my first class passed mostly without incident. I sat next to Angela, who seemed overjoyed to have someone to share the class with, but whenever my eyes flicked up from the reading task, I noticed the stares. My lips were starting to feel rather tender from how hard I was holding in the allure, but at least it seemed to be working. The looks were the sharp, predatory sort of curiosity, rather than the dopy, vacant stare of the enthralled. Still, my other neighbor, a greasy looking boy with dark hair, was a different problem entirely.

 

It was a look of pure longing I’d known to recognize on sight, and I rolled my eyes from behind my borrowed copy of The Great Gatsby, edging my desk a little closer to Angela. It wasn’t his fault, but I hated it. Hated what I did to people, if they stuck around me too long. As a teenage boy, he was unrealistic expectations and hormones bundled up in one horribly inconvenient package. Speaking of which, can I say that better than average eyesight can scar you for life? Because nobody was going to be camping in that tent. I stifled a sigh of disgust, looking imploringly at Angela. Her eyes flicked over to the boy, a frown crossing her face, and shook her head faintly. After what felt like an age, the bell rang, and I left quickly, stopping outside the door to wait for my friend to finish packing.

 

“Hey there, you’re Isabella Swan, right?” a voice piped up. I looked up from the floor, meeting the brown eyes of my would-be admirer. He looked chipper enough, and I already felt bad for him. Sorry bub, you’re not my type.

 

“Bella,” I grunted, making a show of examining the fire alarm beside the door.

 

“My name’s Eric,” he said, and I awkwardly shook his hand. _Scourgify_ … _scourgify_ , please. My half-hearted attempt at wandless, motionless casting was unsuccessful, to my chagrin. “C-can I walk you to your next class?” he blurted, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. I tried to smile, but I suspect it came out as more of a grimace.

 

“I’m actually waiting for my friend Angela,” I started, looking over his shoulder, where Angela was waiting patiently by the lockers. “And that’s her right now. Bye, Eric,” I said, walking briskly toward my friend. I heard him stutter something about building four as I left, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

 

My stomach was roiling on the way to government. I felt horrible for treating someone so poorly, but I knew it would be for his own good in the long run. Weak willed guys like that don’t stand up to the aura very well in the long term, and it tends to wear them down after a few years. I’d seen them before, when my mother’s flock held a moot, and it wasn’t pretty. Mindless drones was putting it lightly. I’d kill myself before putting anyone through that.

 

“Are you okay?” Angela whispered softly, and I relaxed, releasing my death grip on the handles of my rucksack.

 

“I’m, uh… he likes me. I don’t want to have to deal with that, so I was really rude back there, and I hope he’ll back off,” I muttered, scuffing my shoes against the gravel as we crossed over to building four.

 

“Well, you are pretty likeable,” Angela chirped, smiling serenely. I growled teasingly, and she waved her hands in mocking surrender. “Okay, okay you're grungy and punk and nobody likes it… look, it’s fine. Sometimes, you just have to let them down, if you’re not interested. Um… or so I hear.”

 

I sighed. She was right, of course. “Yeah, but it never gets easier.”

 

As it turned out, dealing with Eric should have been the least of my worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reposting an old fic I did on Fanfiction.net, and I'll probably update that to match this as well when I can bring myself to face all the commenters over there from my absence. I hated leaving it in the state it was, so managed to get myself to write after losing over half of this fic back in 2016. If you have any questions about the crossover or other criticism, I'll do my best to respond, as first person writing is hardly my strong suit. Planning to update next week, or sooner if only to get the second chapter out there, as that's when the Cullens enter the story with a bang.
> 
> Regarding constructive criticism, I'm looking for a beta reader, so if anyone would be willing to help out, that would be amazing.


	2. Inconspicuous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella's first day at school reminds her that an interesting life is not necessarily an easy one.

I lost Angela eventually, when we split for trigonometry class, and I missed her already. Apparently, the best way to introduce a veela who is struggling with control is to haul them up in front of the class for introductions, therefore highlighting just what everyone is missing out on. I actually broke off part way through my stiff, uncertain introduction because I'd bitten the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood. It's harder, knowing there are a lot of eyes on you, because your instincts scream at you to draw attention to yourself. But I managed, somehow, and life went on.

A girl called Jessica latched onto me, and nearly talked my ear off before the class was through, though steering the conversation toward herself gave me a brief respite.

It may come as a surprise, but I actually don't like talking to people very much, and I think this girl was reminding me a little too much of the girls who bullied me in my early years at Salem. From listening to her speak about herself, instincts hammered into me in first year were twitching, waving little red flags. Still, I somehow found myself sharing a cafeteria table with her and her friends, which is when it suddenly occurred to me that Angela knew all these people. I hadn't even considered it before, but when she quietly greeted Jessica, it seemed obvious. She’s not just _your_ friend, idiot.

That was when my head ached sharply, and I cleared my thoughts entirely on instinct drilled into me by long hours of 'anger management' classes, pressing back against a mental intrusion. My smile slipped, and my fists clenched as I took a quick look around the room. Legilimency was illegal in almost every state, bar Utah, but it was really hard to prove that someone had attacked you.

"Bella?" Jessica called, waving her hand in front of my face insistently.

"Sorry... headache. Just give me a moment?" I said, massaging my temples as I put my bag down by the table. Surreptitiously, I scanned the cafeteria, until my eyes picked out a likely suspect. There, with the yellow eyes, and gravity-defying red hair. He was pretty, but he was also staring like he wanted to look into my soul, and immediately something like a beaked jackhammer pressed against my temples. Wow, this table sure has a nice texture. It's all white and bumpy. I could just stare at it for hours, so long as someone is trying to get inside my head. The sensation receded, and I cautiously raised my head, the conversation at the table rushing back to me as I stopped focusing on the occlumency technique. A cute, baby-faced blond boy had one foot on the table, flexing his arms for all to see, and I belatedly realized that my pent-up aura was breaking free.

"Oh my god, Mike, what the hell are you doing?" Jessica shouted, pulling on his shirt, and he nearly overbalanced into my tray. I crept my hand into my bag, 'accidentally' spilling my water down my front as I dug my nails into my palm, focusing on pulling the unruly magic back into my grasp. It relented, eventually, still attempting to slip my control like sand through a clenched fist. A gaggle of boys on the table opposite twitched, as if waking from a dream. Really inconspicuous, Bella, I chastised myself. The blond boy, who I'm pretty certain was called Mike, climbed down from the table, his face beet red.

"I dunno, Jess. I just… thought it would be funny," he said, sounding dazed. Slowly, the buzz of conversation around us returned to a dull roar. I shuddered, sniffling. That's right, feel sorry for yourself. You should be apologizing to him on bended knee, for violating him like that. A warm hand on my arm pulled me back into the present.

"Are you going to be okay, Bella? I can take you to the nurse…" Angela said softly, and I shook my head. I didn't deserve friends like her.

"N-no, it's fine. I-I sometimes get migraines," I said. Well, whined is more accurate. "Who is that? He keeps staring at us." I motioned quickly to the strange, pale legilimens. He and his friends looked to be isolated from the rest of us by a margin of abandoned tables, so maybe they were outcasts or something.

"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica cut in, giving me a searching look. I knew that look a little too well; generally from the faces of angry women on muggle beaches. 'Back off my territory', was what I heard. "He's dreamy, of course, but don't bother. I think he might be gay," she said, snorting disdainfully, her cheeks flushing slightly. 'I am his ex/He turned me down', I translated in my head. People with crushes are a bit too predictable, if you have practice. Too much, in my case.

"And his friends?" I pressed, halfheartedly dabbing my front with a napkin.

"Oh, that's his family. One big, strange, gorgeous family. There's Rosalie and Jasper Hale, and Emmett and Edward Cullen. Alice is the little one, with the dark hair. They're so _weird_. Emmett’s practically dating his own sister," she said, voice thick with condemnation..

"They're adopted, Jess. It doesn't matter," Angela objected quietly, earning a disapproving glance from the other girl.

It clicked. Cullen. Esme Cullen, the lady with the yellow eyes. Risking another quick glance, I began to see the family resemblance. All of the kids were pale, though I could only see the faces of three of them. A big guy, more of a man than a boy, with muscles for days and the same golden eyes, but I was blown away by the woman next to him. She was a veritable goddess, curvy and classically beautiful with flowing golden hair. She practically oozed sensuality, in an icy sort of way, and I was immediately forced to quash bittersweet memories. That must be Rosalie Hale, I guessed. She looked a lot like a girl I knew, once upon a time. I was in the middle of considering this particular revelation when the short, black haired Cullen turned, meeting my eyes.

My breath hitched, my gaze roving over that her delicate, pale body as I tried to drink in as much of her as possible. She destroyed me with that indecipherable look, flashing through those beautiful golden eyes. Desperate plans wheeled through my mind, of throwing myself at her feet, of seducing her shamelessly after school, of simply holding her and never letting go. My instincts screamed as I finally managed to tear my eyes away, my body flushing hot as I burned her face into my mind. I let out a shaky breath, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the edge of the table.

"Bella, you're really weird," Jessica said without much malice, finishing her bowl of unidentified cafeteria slop and beginning to pack her things.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I said, my voice husky as I allowed my arms to go limp. Was that what my mom had felt when she first met Phil? I really wasn't sure, but whatever that had been, I was shaking like a leaf. Alice… I tasted the name, and my heart soared. This was bad. Really, really bad. "I-I'm really not used to this. Too many people." I muttered, earning a sympathetic look from Angela, and a smattering of confusion from Jess's friends. My stomach clenched at the lie, but I doubted 'I think I just found my soulmate, maybe' would be an acceptable response. "Mind if I go outside for a minute?" I really, really needed some air.

"Sure, we'll be right here, okay?" Angela said, shooting a sideways glance to Jessica, who sighed and nodded. I stumbled out into the cold air, placing a hand on the wall of the building to steady myself. The next class was coming up, and I knew the bell would ring any minute now, but for the moment I was just focusing on my breathing. In… and out. My thighs were uncomfortably wet, and I rubbed my legs together as heat pooled. It was like I was burning up from the inside, and I couldn't help but picture her face. It was the only thing I had to go on. Again, despite the dampness of my hoodie, my aura was dangerously close to breaking loose, if only to impress the dark haired angel I'd just seen. This is really, really bad. With a groan, I sank down, sitting on the asphalt without really much thought to the matter.

Renee's decision to uproot herself completely to follow Phil made a sickening amount of sense now. It was a weird, overriding devotion, as if I'd known this woman my whole life, yet I wasn't oblivious to the implications. I mean, it wasn't as if I'd ever wanted a guy to touch me, right? I was stumped. All those years at an all-girls school, and I'd just sort of assumed that I was just… asexual or something. Sure, people liked me plenty, but the last time I'd wanted to touch someone had been my sixth year, and I wasn't eager to return to that.

See, once upon a time, I met a girl. Her name was Jeanie, and while I had no idea what I wanted at the time, she made me want her. It was easy, she said, like winning my heart was some sort of messed up little game of hers. She… looked a lot like Rosalie, I guess. Tall, blonde, absolutely stunning and with legs you wouldn't believe. Way too popular for my pasty ass. To cut a painful little story short, I wanted to be more serious than her, and we broke things off. Emphasis on broke. God, I had been absolutely pathetic, chasing after a girl who'd only wanted someone to screw for a night. There was no way in hell I had been ready for a relationship then, and I doubted I was ready now. I hung my head as my brain insisted on replaying the entire series of events in sickening detail.

I sighed, digging my fingers into the asphalt, my hand glowing faintly with suppressed heat. She had been nothing like Alice. I was a creep, ogling a girl I didn't even know like she was a piece of meat. Thinking about… all the kinds of things guys want to do to me when I'm around. I'd seen it in her eyes, almost like she’d already found me wanting. So why was I just so stupidly happy that she'd looked my way?

The bell rang, and I pushed myself to my feet, idly watching a few of the larger boys kicking a soccer ball around. No, I'd never really wanted to touch them, either. Muscles are hard, and uncomfortable to hug. I knew that much. They're not soft and perky like… I cut the thought off at the head, pressing a hand to my flaming cheeks. That… was a very gay thing to think, wasn't it? I'd expected these sorts of feelings to blow over after Jeanie, but… well, apparently not. Just a phase, my mom had said, and I hadn't even questioned it. But I could see, now I was a year older, that it wasn't going anywhere, and I couldn't defend my mom’s belief. Alice proved that, whether I wanted it or not.

The theory wasn't a hard one to test - I considered the guy who seemed to be leading the soccer group. He was well-built, handsome even, and I guess that thing between his legs might even feel nice in certain places, but I just didn't feel anything. I didn't want anything from him. I hadn't felt like this about anyone else before now, save Jeanie, so I wasn't really sure what to think. Alice-sexual wasn't a thing, was it?

I clenched my fists. What right did my body have to just decide like that, without my consent, that she was the one damned person on the planet who did it for me? It could have been anybody, and all of a sudden I'm acting like a dog in heat. I wanted to punch something. To keep punching until my arms gave out, then set something on fire. Feathers rippled across my arms, and I grimaced, biting my sore bottom lip as I fought back the change. This little development could go hang, because I wasn’t playing. I fucking refuse. I winced, hurriedly looking around, but thankfully that particular sentiment remained firmly in my head. Otherwise, I suspect Renee would have flown all the way from Phoenix to make a feather shawl from my hide. But… God, I just wanted to break something, to hurt something, but the only fault I could find was my own. Looking around, I dazedly came to the conclusion that the school grounds looked far too empty.

"Oh… I'm going to be late," I said to nobody in particular.

~~~

I sometimes wonder on the merits of fate, as a concept. It always seemed like it would have to be set up by a sadist. Regardless, if there were such a thing, the fates were probably laughing their dusty, geriatric socks off at my predicament. The first thing my biology teacher did, upon noticing that one his students was new to the school, was tell me to sit next to Edward Cullen at the front of the class. It was the only open seat in the room, but it just seemed awfully convenient as I made my way over, carelessly slinging my bag under the table.

Edward stiffened at my approach, closing his eyes and holding his body ramrod straight in his seat, like he'd just been forced to stick his hands in something foul. Okay... fine, whatever. I slipped into the seat beside him and his expression darkened, fury clearly etched into his deathly pale face. It was tempting to take the first move, and tell him to shove it, but at that moment I was honestly worried that I'd been sat next to a serial killer or something.

'He knows legilimency,' my brain helpfully supplied, and my frown deepened as I scribbled out notes on mitosis. A serial killer who tried to rape my mind, I amended. I felt a tingle in my head once more, and clamped down on it, pushing away the weak legilimency probe. It was really lucky that I was a natural at protecting my mind, because otherwise I wouldn't even have known he was doing it. Don't look now, I said to myself. You know he's looking right at you.

"Do you have a problem?" I whispered as confidently as I could muster. He made a guttural noise like a cross between a grunt and a cough, and I felt him shift even further away until he was perched on the far edge of his chair. You'd think he'd been sat next to a hag, the way he was behaving.

That same minty smell met my nose, sparking fuzzy memories of several months back. I risked a glance, and my skin crawled. His eyes were blacker than the pits of Hades, almost making the glare he was directing my way unnecessary. Feathers sprang up across my shoulders, under the hoodie, and I tried to force my breathing to return to normal. That was all kinds of disturbing. And conspicuous. How were obliviators not involved on a weekly basis? A few more days of this, and I'd probably beg to have the experience erased.

At least the lesson topic was fascinating, since I'd never had much opportunity to learn about the workings of cells outside of summer classes. It was enthralling, and mostly new information, so I found myself devoting my thoughts mostly to making sense of the lesson. If 'Wardo' over there wanted to be bizarre, that was his business. Maybe he had his own instincts to deal with, so I shouldn't be so quick to judge. But… would his sister be like this? I hoped not, because picturing her face was enough to make my knees tremble. Stupid, stupid veela instincts.

The period after that was a complete joke. Really, I'm serious. I'd never had a gym class before, so this was like a bad joke. I think the closest thing we'd had at Salem had been the spring cross-country event, although that was more about wandslinging than running. You have a wand, so why not give the competition a good jinxing to make sure they stay put? Transfigure a horse out of crap in your pockets, and ride in the lap of luxury? Of course, everybody else had a wand too, so it was sort of like a free-for-all duel, with racing. To cut a long story short, when the coach told me we'd be doing volleyball, I was grasping at straws. I knew about football, baseball, and I had a passing familiarity with soccer, but not much more. The result was… underwhelming, to say the least. I'd played pickup games of Quidditch, and was even on Salem's reserve team at one point, but sports had never been my strong suit. I'd been the reserve beater, and I’d played maybe three real games in my life.

Still, as we hit our little plush balls back and forth, I allowed myself time to consider the previous class. I wasn't sure about his siblings, but 'Wardo's behavior was pure American vampire. They were meant to be mostly extinct by now, driven out with superior numbers of flaming wands, but there was no denying the evidence anymore. And he was hungry, which meant someone was going to die soon. My stomach dropped as I considered Esme and the others, my mind tallying up how many would have to die each year to sustain a pack that large. All that blood… my gorge rose at the thought, and I choked, tasting bile. I hunched over, to the dismay of my teammates, gagging before I got control of myself. It was lucky I didn't lose my lunch right there, really. Still, the train of thought had no breaks. Where were the police reports? The unexplained disappearances? Dad should have been working overtime, if there was a pack of vampires in town. Something else was at work, but I was at a loss to explain.

The bell finally rang, and I left in a hurry, my mind whirring as I made my way back through town toward my dad's house. I couldn't tell him, at least not without tying him to a chair first. It would only make him worry, and it wasn't as if he could go out arresting magical creatures. No, the best thing to do would be to floo call the local DMLE office, and let them deal with the problem. I thought about it, as I trudged through the puddles on my way back, and came up with one tiny problem. Alice. If she really was a vampire, they'd drive her off, or kill her if they found her. My heart ached at the thought, my eyes stinging, and I ground a knuckle against my temple in frustration. Why? It wasn't like I knew her or anything. She was a murderer by nature, so I should hate her existence. This was just some… ancient mating instinct trying to twist my thoughts. But, as humiliating as the thought was, I knew that if she left I would follow. Damn me.

"Jeez, Bella! Try to keep it on the hinges," Charlie remarked as I banged the door open, still half immersed in my own private pit of self-doubt.

"Will do, dad!" I replied absently as I took off my well-worn black boots. I'd have to buy a new pair soon. Reparo can only do so much.

Dumping my bag by the stairs, I extracted my wand from the pile and headed into the living room.

"How was your day?" Dad said from the couch, beer clutched comfortably in one hand. I smiled, but it was the strained sort of smile.

"Different. Uhm, if it's okay, I think I need to go out back and unwind a little."

His eyes widened, likely cottoning onto my meaning from the brief flutters of allure that escaped the death-grip I'd had on it since lunch. "Do you need me to…" What, exactly?

"Just don't follow me."

He huffed a sigh, chugging his beer, and my heart went out to him. Sorry dad, there's not much you can do. I patted him on the arm, silently thankful for the kind thoughts.

We lived fairly close to the woods, so it wasn't hard to make a quick dash across the road and straight into the underbrush, but I didn't stop there. I didn't stop moving until I was well outside town limits, because the last thing I wanted was to run into a muggle while in bird form. Stashing my hoodie under my arm, I thought of my encounter with Edward, allowing the rage to pool at the thought of one who would violate my mind so readily. I thought of what my own body would do to me, to throw me under the bus for the sake of an attractive stranger.

Feathers burst from my skin, covering my arms in an instant as flames licked my vision. I hadn't bothered with my shoes on the way out, as my talons would have completely ruined them when I shifted. I let the flames rise, fire washing over my skin but failing to burn me as I wove the magic over and over onto itself. In an instant, I released the pent up power with a thunderous crack, trees around me splintering and toppling away from me. The nearest was blasted to charred kindling, and I huffed, feeling a little proud of myself. It wasn't exactly a blasting curse, but my veela magic was pretty strong. The Olympic Peninsula now had a new clearing.  
My claws dug into the side of the flaming crater I'd produced, and I hurled myself into the air, landing on a branch as my wings slowly extended. My bra strap popped apart as the feathery appendages pushed out from my shoulders, and I stashed it in the tree with my hoodie, before taking a few experimental flaps.

With that done, I unleashed my aura, the air around me swirling fitfully at the sudden release of magic. It felt so good, like stretching after a long nap, that I nearly toppled backward off the branch, righting myself barely with an indignant squawk. One thing you would never guess without being veela is that when you're in bird form, your head weighs a ton. It really depends which bird species you identify with, but my massive, wedge-shaped beak never failed to make things difficult.

Since I was basically venting veela magic into the air, it was only a matter of time before the flock found me. A flutter of black wings signaled the first arrival, settling into the upper branches, greeting me with a guttural cawing. It was the crow equivalent of 'hey everyone, gather 'round', and I let out a pleased trill. Crows don't really mess around. I can respect that. Within a few minutes, it seemed like every crow within a hundred miles had set up shop in the surrounding treetops. I was being perched on by no less than three, and my own branch was packed, but I didn't really mind. They were family, in an odd sort of way. So, I perched there for several minutes, letting their chatter wash over me, answering a few questions where I could. It was a simple, functional language, though sadly context dependent.

Well, time to see what they know…

I raised my head, making a harsh clicking noise in the back of my throat, meaning 'blood eaters - threat to flock?', and was met with a rustling of wings. It wasn't exact, because crow dialects can actually get really weird the further down you go, but I had genetics on my side. They usually knew what I meant, even if it wasn't exactly what I said.

"Indeterminate," came the reply, with a scattering of 'dangerous carrion ahead' and 'no confirmed deaths'. I sighed, flexing my aura. That was the best I was going to get. It's lucky that they even understood the concept. The third answer was useless, because they were referring to their own. It wasn't the crows I was worried about.

"Leaving now. Fly safe," I said after a moment's' pause, dropping from the branch and landing easily with a flap of my dark wings.

With that in mind, I made my way back to the house, stopping briefly to put my bra back on as I crammed myself back into my human-looking self. The sky looked mutinous, as if it would rain any second, and I didn't want any of that. Unfortunately, nature had other ideas. I was drenched and shivering by the time I reached my dad's house, and felt thoroughly sick as I pushed the door open. Dimly, through the fog of nausea, I heard voices. My dad's deep twang was normal, but there was also a tinkly, chipper voice that made my ears twitch. I didn't really mind, so I just sort of stumbled inside like a zombie, making a beeline for the linen closet.

"Bella?" he called, but I ignored him, preferring to grab the nearest towel and rub it blindly against my face.

Ah, warm. I snuggled into the towel, rubbing it all over my sodden, dripping hair. Were I still living with my mom, I'd have probably ditched my clothes at the door, but I doubted my dad would appreciate that. Especially since we apparently had guests.

He said something else that I didn't quite catch, and I blearily turned in the direction of the living room, but it wasn't my dad who greeted me. To my horror, I met the golden eyes of Alice Cullen.

"Hi, I'm Alice!" she chirped to me, and I sort of nodded dumbly, fiddling with the towel. It didn't seem to matter to her that I was soaked to the skin, my t-shirt clinging to me, but on my end just looking at her was making my body tingle in all the wrong places.

"Bella," I said cautiously, reaching for her hand out of habit and cursing myself. Idiot, why would you let her touch you? Stupid little veela. She smiled even brighter, if that were possible, her cute button nose even doing a little wiggle like she was a Disney princess or something. Her hand was cool, but not unpleasantly so, and I shivered at the contact, trying to keep hold of my earlier anger.

"I was just telling your father how wonderful it was to have someone new around here. He looks so much happier now that you're back! Here, let me help you with that," she said, pointing to the towel, and I shrugged, grabbing another and handing it over. "We have so much to talk about," the pixie continued, quieter than before, and I almost missed it as she tilted her head cockily, captivated by the milky curve of her neck. I pressed myself back into the closet, desperately trying to form unsexy thoughts.

Oh, so that was it. The thought was rather distant, because my body was screaming that I should take her right there in the linen closet, but it made a lot of sense. Threat assessment, rather than a random home visit. Guess ‘Wardo the weirdo told her I know how to shield my mind.

"U-uhm… d-do you want to come upstairs?" I said, searching for an exit. I'd have to get away eventually, and just being around her was already eroding my rather shaky control.

"Of course! I'd love to see anything you'd like to show me," she chirped, giving me a little breathing room. "I'm afraid I'm being stolen away, Mister Swan. Tell my family I loved them!" she called gaily, as she followed my unsteady lead. Charlie laughed, waving us off.

"I-I need to change my clothes," I said, as we reached the top of the stairs.

Alice snorted, looking away. "Why don’t you just abra cadabra them away?" she murmured, smirking up at me. Oh god, the look in her golden eyes was indecent. Or maybe that was just me?

“I, uhh…” I began, brain thoroughly shorted out by the idea of being naked around her. What the fuck, why was I laughing at a joke about Avada freaking Kedavra?

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have... go get changed," she continued quickly, and I eagerly did as she asked, shutting my bedroom door in a blind rush.

In case it wasn't already clear, I am a terrible host. The worst, most socially awkward host one could possibly imagine. Just… just stay angry with her, I told myself. With the situation. It didn't work, though, because I'd always tried to be honest with myself. It was never her fault.  
Still, despite my mortification, I was dry and dressed in record time. I groaned, rubbing my face. I'd never had it this bad before. For anyone. I didn't know anything about her, but when she did things… holy hell did I react. It was stifling, and I had no way to stop it from happening. Were I less honest, it would be easy to place the blame on her, to hate her for the wild feelings she forced into me.

"Well, come on in I guess," I said softly, pulling the door open. I was aware that my room wasn't much, but it was home, now that Salem could no longer hold that place in my life. I'd managed to gather a fair collection of books since I'd first arrived, and moved a tiny writing desk into the side with the window, so it was cozy if nothing else. It also meant that there were exactly two places to sit. The desk, and my bed. Alice removed my choice in the matter by immediately flopping onto the bed like she owned the place. Rude. I settled for the office chair, eager to keep my distance from the possibly-blood-sucking pixie. "So… talk. It's a little conspicuous to just turn up at my house like this, so there must be a reason. Is this about Edward?" I said, trying to be firm, but her cuteness made it difficult.

"Oh hell, and here I was hoping we could beat around the bush a little," Alice said, pouting adorably. "It's… sorta? He feels really bad for the way he acted today, you know..."

"Well, where is he then? He's a big boy, Alice, it's not like he can't come here and apologise for himself," I said snidely. It was difficult to be angry with her, but her brother was a different matter. He didn't have this weird mating… thing to shield him, and that meant I could use it to keep my distance. I'd have to remember that in the future. Alice, on the other hand, shifted uncomfortably, suddenly very interested in my closet.

"Well… he sort of… can't," she said lamely, refusing to meet my eyes. Maybe I would have better luck if I just told her I knew? At least that way, we could be open about the problem. There was a quiet gasp and Alice stared at me, looking faintly ill. Did she just read my mind? I frowned. I'd have felt a mental intrusion, like the sort Edward apparently favored.

"And why is that?"

"Because you smell too good for him!" Alice finally burst out, clapping her hands over her mouth. It hit me like a thunderbolt, little things suddenly making sense. The looks of disgust, the sudden blackening of his eyes… I could empathize with that horrible longing, with Alice laying on my bed in front of me, looking for all the world like she wanted to be ravished. I tried not to think about that. Sex had never led me anywhere good.

"Oh," I said absently, playing with my hair. Alice stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "I suppose he'd try to eat me, wouldn't he?" I blushed at the accidental innuendo, and she grinned impishly.

"No, but I might."

"Alice! W-w-what the hell?" I spluttered, unsure which sense she even meant with that. Her eyes were a smoky sort of yellow, but I knew for a fact they'd been bright as gold downstairs.

"Oops… um, that was in really poor taste," she murmured. The little vampire huffed quietly, her shoulders slumping. "My family are used to, uh, lewd jokes. I kinda forgot you wouldn’t know that."

"You know, this isn't exactly reassuring me that you're not a serial killer," I said, but I was smiling. She let out a frustrated little whine, and my legs clenched at the noise.

"I've made such a mess of this…" she groaned, sitting up. "I don't know how much you know about us, but I swear, we only eat animals. We're a big coven… I'm sure you ran the math, and it would be a lot of people going missing every month. It's a lot of mouths to feed, but we manage, and it keeps the bears away from town. If you're curious, that's why our eyes aren't that sorta reddish color."

I watched her carefully, trying to detect any hint of malice on her beautiful face, but for all her fumbling, she was probably excellent at poker. Vegetarian vampires? What next, a Dementor who always wished it had a heart? Just what my life needed, lava lamp of crazy that it was. I sighed, "I… okay. Okay, let's say I believe you, hypothetically. What do you want with me?"

"Only hypothetically?" Alice smiled sadly. "We needed to make sure you weren't going to report us. Edward says you're dangerous, so we had to be sure. A witch is bad enough, but you're something else, aren't you?" She was inching closer, her nose flaring, and I leaned back against the desk, unsure what to tell her.

"No, I'm not going to report you," I said quietly after a moment. "So long as you don't hurt anyone… well, the ministry doesn't need to know."

The little vampire nodded slowly, but kept her eyes on me, as if I were a bundle of live rattlesnakes. "Thank you. I didn't want to live on the run again. We weren't hurting anyone that I know of, though if a nomad comes sniffing around, we can't be seen together. It's a lot of trouble that nobody wants."

I hummed, running the scenario over in my head. "If a nomad comes around, will you help me deal with it? I have people I care about here, and if they went missing because everyone shrugged their shoulders, I my fingers might slip into the floo powder. If wizarding America gets involved, you'll all have to move and... no offence meant, but you seem surprisingly normal. You know, for a vampire."

She laughed sweetly, sending shivers down my spine. "None taken. As for help… I'll do what I can, but I can't speak for anyone else in the family. And if any others find out about you, they'd probably kill you, just to be sure you couldn't bring aurors down on all our heads…"

"Underestimating me? I like that," I said mildly.

Alice mumbled something I didn't quite catch. I raised an eyebrow curiously, and the next thing I know, my back is against the floor and her face was inches from my own. Crap! My hands began to sputter and spark, my agitation eager to break free in searing flame, but I couldn't bring myself to hurt her. I really don't know why. Maybe because, despite what she'd just done, she seemed more playful than hostile. A firm leg pressed between my own, pinning one of my thighs to the ground, and I saw stars, my back arching at her touch.

"Now pretend I'm a nomad, and I like to eat people. What are you going to do?" She said, just a touch smugly. "We're stronger and faster than you could imagine, and I'm right on top of you. Where's your wand, Bella?"

"A-Alice… y-your leg," I murmured feverishly, unable to stop myself from pressing closer.

"Well, I suppose seducing you is another thing they might try. You've been aching for someone to touch you. I can smell it on you. It would be so easy," she whispered, her eyes dipping to my neck. Her fingers played with the bottom of my shirt teasingly.

"Easy for you," I replied, my voice husky. I don't know why I said it. She was gorgeous, but then Jeanie had been gorgeous. Fool me twice, shame on me. The little vampire licked her lips, seemingly off in her own little world. The motion was hypnotic, heat pooling in my stomach, utterly destroying my resolve. Those lips needed to be elsewhere.

"You know, I didn't believe Esme and Edward at first…" she dipped her head, nosing along my shoulder and up my neck. I whimpered, wishing blindly that it were her tongue instead, and I pressed myself eagerly against her leg. I swear, I've never wanted anything quite so much as I wanted her just then. Belatedly, I realised that she was looking down at me again, her eyes black as coal. "God, Bella… you smell so good."

Okay, this just got a little too dangerous. My desire crystallized in my chest at her feral look, and I leaned back against the floor. She was getting too invested in this game of hers, and I wanted none of it. One of my arms was pinned above my head, but the other was laying loosely by my side, like she hadn't really considered it a threat. Veela enhancements were crude, compared to a wand, but I could probably manage enough raw strength to break her hold. The question instead was whether or not I really wanted to be free. Her leg…

I pushed, flames flooding through me, and while her grip was inhumanly strong it wasn't unbreakable. Her eyes widened as I threw her off me, my hands bursting into flame as soon as she was free. She landed on my bed with catlike grace, shooting an alarmed glance at my hands. The flames crackled wildly, fluctuating as the fear slowly left me. Rallying her earlier confidence, she laughed huskily and straightened up.

"Pity you fought back. It could have been fun, you know," she said softly, but the fight was bleeding out of her. Running a delicate hand through her hair, she sighed, her eyes falling. "I'm sorry, Bella. I just wanted to show you the danger, and um… I..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I need to go hunt. It's not safe for me to be here anymore."

I let her go. I had a lot to think about, and by the look of things, so did she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is probably the chapter that will make or break this story, as it lays groundwork for most of what comes later. I hope I've managed to polish it up from its original state, but I'm sadly without a beta, so I'm a bit unsure. I also hope that no Britishisms have made it into the story. I'm from the UK, and trying to write American characters from 2005, so cut me a little slack, but if anything pops out as 'oh god, Americans would never talk like that', please let me know asap.
> 
> Any criticisms/comments, unless it's entirely mean spirited and not in the interests of bettering the story, are welcome. Whatever I write, good or bad, comes from the heart, and I'd ask no less of my commenters. Thanks for reading.


	3. A Cry for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie has a question for his daughter. Alice, also, has her concerns.

"Damn, Bells… you want some coffee?" Dad said, looking up from his morning paper. I grunted, shuffling into the kitchen. What was that thing people called sleep? I couldn't remember. All I could see was Alice's face hovering over mine, and feel trails of fire across my body where she had touched. The one time I'd managed to drift off, some time in the early morning, I'd woken to the smell of my pajamas scorching. Dawn had been a welcome sight. I coughed, realizing I'd just been staring blankly at my dad.

 

"Um… yeah, that'd be great thanks," I murmured, my voice scratchy. " _Tempus,_ " I said, wiggling my wand with numb fingers. '08:04' immediately sprang from the tip in green cursive. Brilliant. Half an hour until school, and I was an inferius. Zombified. One with the walking dead. I snorted, immediately thinking of Alice, then groaned, resting my forehead against the table to hide my blush. God, why did I have to be so pathetic? I should be worrying about… I don't know, work. Friends. School. Something like that.

 

"You okay?" My dad said, approaching with two cups of coffee. He looked awful, so I guess the case wasn't going as well as I'd thought. I think I made a grateful noise as I chugged the thing, straight out of the kettle, but I wasn't awake enough to care. "God, careful with that!" He yelled, yanking the cup away from me, nearly spilling the thing in my lap in the process. I shook my head, taking a moment to register what had just happened, before patting his arm and reaching for my stolen mug.

 

"Sorry… it’s fine. Really, Dad. Heat doesn't bother me," I mumbled, finishing the remaining third of the cup. He blinked, then nodded, eyes flicking back to his paper. "Didn't think about it," I continued, as I rushed my way through making myself some cereal.

 

"I'm sorry too. Haven't seen you in so long, I forgot," he said. "So, Alice left real quick last night… she one of your folks or somethin’?"

 

I shook my head, wondering how much I could actually tell him. Not exactly the most... accepting of witchcraft, my dad. He tries, for my sake, and it's really quite sweet, but I think it freaks him out on some level.

 

"Um… no, so it was kinda awkward. At least I didn't have to… y'know," I mimed waving a wand with a spoonful of cornflakes. Whatever his thoughts on the matter, my dad shrugged, turning back to his paper. In my head, I breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to press the issue, and tried to quash my guilt at lying. It was necessary, I told myself. I finished my breakfast in silence, and went to get ready for school.

 

"Say… Bells, can I ask you somethin'?" He said, out of the blue as I came down from my rush-job of a shower, still brushing damp locks out of my face. I felt sick, even though the water had been hot enough to scald, which did something to take the edge off of getting clean. Make no mistake, showering is difficult and awkward when all your brain will throw out is how much better it would be to have your mate there with you. Stupid brain. Stupid birds. Stupid, god-forsaken veela instincts. Oh, wait, I think my dad said something.

 

"Huh?" I finally responded, peering at him from my spot on the couch, halfway through sorting out my books for school. He was looking at me expectantly, though I could see how tired he was from the way he was sitting. "Oh, uh… sure thing, dad." I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I could tell it just came out awkward. The worst thing would've been for my aura to flare up around about then.

 

"Uh… your folks… you can do some pretty nasty things with those wands of yours, right?" he said. Where was he going with this? I grimaced, pushing the last of the books into my bag, before coming back over to the table.

 

"Yeah… I don't know if you remember when I first got my wand, but it came with a safety booklet as thick as your thumb, dad. Why, you want me to put some boils on your deputy's ass for you?" I joked feebly, realizing too late that his eyes were still completely serious. He didn't look quite as tired anymore. "It's more than that, isn't it?" I said finally.

 

"You could say that. I'll be blunt, Bells. If you wanted to, could you kill someone with it?" When your dad works in law enforcement, trust me, this is _not_ a comfortable line of questioning. Naturally, it took me a while to answer.

 

"I-I guess I could, yeah. I mean, it's not like wizards haven't had to fight each other before, and they didn't use guns…" I said. At this point, you could say I was pretty freaked out. It's not like my dad to pull the interrogation card. I thought he was keeping that one for my prospective boyfriends, not _me._ "Look dad, I haven't been doing anything wrong with it. If I had, we'd have a ministry truck parked on the front lawn or something."

 

He massaged his temples, "No! Bells, this is serious. People are dead and I need to know how." A heavy hand clasped my shoulder as he got up. My knees threatened to give out, I was shaking that hard. "This case I'm working on… please, is there anythin’ magical you know of that can kill someone without leaving a mark?"

 

Well, shit.

 

~~~

 

First period was utterly surreal. I suppose I was still in a daze from talking with my dad so much, and a near miss at the junction outside school didn't help matters. Someone had been AKed in Port Angeles. Several, in fact, from what my dad had said. Unless someone was running around with a basilisk on a doggy leash, that was the only explanation I could think of. I ran my hand through my hair, striving to pay attention to the English teacher while keeping my aura in check.

 

Luckily, the coffee had kicked in, so my brain was running the paranoia generator full-tilt. I mean, the USA is a big place, so when wizards go bad, it's not like there's a shortage of hidey holes, if you catch my drift. That's probably why we have vampires in the backyard, for instance. The ministry does what it can, but there aren't really enough magicals for a country this big, so some states are pretty lawless when you get down to it. I'm most likely the only witch in the whole town. Needless to say, this was bad. If someone were to, for example, go around _killing people_ , it means I'm the only one here who even knows how to contact the proper authorities, should I so wish. I doubt they'd pay me much mind, in any case. Being a registered dark creature does wonders for one's credibility with the DMLE, Being status or no.

 

"Hey, Bella!" a male voice mock whispers to me. Too late, I recognize Mike Newton. Wait, where is everyone? The room was almost empty, with a few still packing up bags.

"You coming to next class, or what?" he said, smirking at me. I sighed and followed. This was going to be a really long day.

 

To tell you the truth, I felt pretty bad to be using him like this, but I _needed_ someone to shield me from people while I tried to sort out my personal mess. First Alice Cullen, now this. I groaned, slapping my hand against my forehead. If I alerted the DMLE to the serial killer in the backyard, what if they discovered Alice? She was guilty of being a vampire, in the first degree.

Mike was giving me a concerned look, so I mumbled 'headache'. It wasn't entirely a lie. In any case, we made it to our next class, where I settled in at the back. At least that way, my distracting thoughts were a bit less likely to get me in trouble.

 

Considering the situation, I'm amazed last night's encounter didn't end with me disappearing forever. See, as far as my history teacher told it, we used to be quite tolerant of vampires, until some Italian bigshots sided with Grindelwald. That one surprised me, because I would have thought that people hanging around and killing american citizens to live would make them essentially terrorists, but I guess it all comes back to not having enough wizards to police the entire country. Why pick fights you can't win after all? A lone wizard isn't much more than a speed bump to a vampire pack.

 

Still, there were more than enough aurors to drive off a single pack, even one as large as Alice's. The history books said we'd burned them down to stragglers over the past fifty years, though I knew enough not to trust them at their word. After all, these were the same authors who would still call me a 'succubus'. The thought brought up all the crap from last night I'd been suppressing, and I bit down hard on my tongue. Copper and ash mingled. She isn't yours, idiot! Not that my lizard brain was listening. Figures. Fucking instincts. A ball of paper landed on my desk, breaking me out of my fugue of self-loathing.

 

I scanned the room, and Angela winked at me from the other side of the row.

 

'Wake up, space cadet :P'

 

The note brought a smile to my face, and I hurried in completing the task on the board. Say what you will, but Muggles really did know their stuff when it came to the natural world. I have no idea why half of this isn't taught at Salem, because I'm sure that knowing about the laws of physics before you break them would be really handy.

 

Angela caught me in the bathroom after class, where I was washing my face to help keep my aura down. "Hey Bella," she said quietly. "New school jitters?"

 

I sighed, leaning my forehead against the cracked mirror. "Something like that," I said, my voice a little nasal from the water. Don't ask me how that works. It's a symbolic thing, like werewolves and silver. "Sorry, Angie. I'm a hot mess today."

 

She frowned. "That's okay, but did you sleep? Like, at all?"

 

Glancing at myself in the mirror, I winced. Jeans, faded t-shirt, and the same sallow face as ever. I guess I could be pretty on a good day, if you discount the aura doing its thing, but today was _not_ one of those days. I pouted, poking at the bags under my eyes. "A bit," I said after a moment.

 

"Hey, if there's anything we can do, tell me, okay?" Angela said, placing a gentle hand on my arm. No, I really can't. Sorry, it's against the law. I forced a smile.

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I just need to get an early night,” I said, trying to sound positive, but my mind kept skittering back to my dad. “Thanks, Angie.”

 

"Glad to... help?" she said, giving me a careful look.

 

"Come on, let's go get chocolate or something," I said, my smile slipping back into place.

 

Maybe today would turn out alright. Maybe I’d think of something. So I told myself.

.

~~~

 

It was first break, and by that point it had thoroughly hit home that I was out of my depth. Angela and I were eating the food of the gods themselves, chocolate, on one of the benches near the cafeteria, and chatting away about nothing at all. That was when, out of the blue, I realized that one of the people walking past us was actually _Alice_ , and she was heading over rather than shuffling onward like the rest. I was half out of my seat before I even realized what I was doing, because she was _right there_.

 

"Hi Bella!" she shouted over the people around us, smiling so brightly that it melted my awkward heart right there. I slumped back into my seat, waving to her with my free hand.

 

"Hey yourself!" I called back with more confidence than I felt. Hurriedly, I scooted aside on the bench, just in time for Alice to hop into the seat. Too close, I realised belatedly. Immediately, my hands wanted to touch, but I reined myself in, digging my nails into my palms to bring myself back down to earth. "You want some of my chocolate?" I forced myself to say, smiling as she leaned away from the treat. Freaking heathen vampires, I swear.

 

"No thanks, I had a big breakfast," she lied easily, before turning to Angie. "Hi, I'm Alice. You're Angela, right?" Angie nodded, looking dazzled. I dreaded to think how I looked, though 'hot mess' probably featured somewhere.

 

"W-What're you doing here?" I murmured, bringing her honey-colored gaze back to me.

 

"Comparing schedules, silly. Oh, you picked physics? Pity, we could have been art buddies." she said. I frowned at the missed opportunity. Wait, no, that was my instincts talking. It was a really good thing we didn't share classes, let alone benches.

 

"You never asked about that," I said, trying to smile. I didn't really know what my face was doing anymore, because I was digging my fingernails into my palm as hard as I could to keep things under control. Her eyes widened, flickering down to my hands, before shooting me an unreadable look. Without commenting, she grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me up from the bench with unnerving ease.

 

"Sorry Angela, I need to borrow Bella for a moment," she said firmly, voice brooking no argument. I shrugged helplessly as she dragged me away, shooting Angela an apologetic smile. Where the hell was she taking me? The roughness helped get past the shock of her touching me, but frankly, having her this close was a struggle in itself. A crash as we passed, some poor guy dropping everything to stare, his companion's complaints cut short as he too fell victim to my spell. My grip on my hand tightened, pain blotting out all thought. Cold wind on my face brought me back to my senses as Alice guided me out toward the back of the kitchens, behind the dumpsters.

 

My hand throbbed, though my attention was on Alice as she whirled on me, keeping a firm hold on my wrist. Shit, she looked mad. "Okay, what the hell is with _that_?" She shook my wrist lightly, pain shooting up my arm.

 

"I could ask you the same thing. People are going to be talking after you dragged me through the halls like a fairground prize, you know," I spat, avoiding her eyes. That way lay madness.

 

"That's not the point! Look at your hand!" She shouted, grabbing my still-clenched fist. Even with my tense grip, I could see traces of blood between my fingers. She began to tease my fingers open, and I cried out, jerking around as a sharp black talon came free, a thin trickle of blood escaping my spasming fingers. I looked down, finally meeting her disbelieving stare, my hand cradled in her gentle, tiny fingers. They felt smooth and cold, like pebbles. Swallowing, my mouth dry, I reached for my wand with the other hand. Alice didn't seem to notice, looking down at my palm, not even daring to breathe. Her tongue flicked out, wetting her lips. Were they as strong as her fingers? They looked as soft as a dream, and I wanted to know. "I shouldn't," she whispered, eyes darkening.

 

Her hands were trembling, a finger darting out to catch a droplet before it could fall. I watched, breathless myself, as she brought it to her lips, letting out a little groan, her eyes slipping shut. Oh my god. My hips rolled involuntarily at the sound, and I nearly crushed Alice's hand in my attempt to keep myself under control. It was a miracle that I managed to wave my wand the right direction.

 

" _Episkey."_ The ragged wound closed, flesh knitting itself back together until only a small scar remained. Alice jerked back as if waking from a dream, looking from me to the wand in my hand. Panic flashed across her face, and she stumbled away from me. "Alice… wait," I said, knowing what was on her mind. Luckily, there was only one way out of this little corner she'd led me into, and I was blocking it.

 

"No, Bella, just s-stay away. I'm not myself right now," she murmured thickly, sitting against the back wall, as far away from me as she could get. She muttered to herself feverishly, eyes dark and staring. My aura… shit. This was going to suck, but I knew what needed to be done.

A murmur of ' _Aguamenti'_ and a thick jet of water hit me full in the face. God, it felt like my nose was full of soggy cotton. My throat was doing its best to close up on me, but my natural aura retreated in the face of such rough treatment. Accursed water dripped from my chin, soaking through my hair, but I managed to look her way before everything became a sick-tasting haze.

 

"Better?" I croaked. She wasn't looking at me, and I could understand why. I wanted her, but I didn't want her enough that I'd ravish her without care for her feelings, and she'd been close to leaping for my throat just now.

 

"Yeah," she breathed, tipping her head back against the wall. "That was… I'm so sorry, Bella. When I brought you out here, I-I was worried because you looked sick, and you were hurting yourself to hide it. I had no idea…"

 

I hummed, sinking down to mirror her posture.

 

"It's okay," I said, as if I was trying to calm a frightened animal. And weirdly, I meant it. She cared about little old me enough to check if I was okay? It was sweet of her, and completely unexpected. Needless to say, my doubts about her feeding off animals were shot. "I'm sorry I tempted you like that." It's just what I do, apparently.

 

She snorted, though I got the feeling she didn't find it too funny. "You're a veela." It wasn't a question. I winced, trying to make my waterlogged brain function correctly.

 

"What gave me away?" I murmured. Just looking at her was enough to give me a wry smile. Stupid instincts.

 

"Might've been when you set your hands on fire last night. Or the aura you hit me with on the way out." She giggled into her hand. hopefully she was starting to feel better about things. "The claw just made it obvious."

 

I shrugged, but it was hard to be grumpy with her giggling like that. "So what now?" I wiggled my wand, casting a quick timekeeping charm. "We have a little while until next period, at least."

She looked at me intently, and I felt myself flush.

 

"You're lucky Edward wasn't around," she said after a long moment of silence. I sniffled, water dripping from the tip of my nose. "Your blood… it would be far worse for him than it is for me."

 

"I'm impressed you held back," I said. "I'm not nearly so good." That part I whispered more to myself, though I'm pretty sure she heard.

 

She shuffled sideways along the wall, drawing a little closer. Close enough to touch. The thought of her mouth around my fingers… I was already painfully wet in more ways than one, and I knew she could smell it. My face grew hot at that realization, and I shrank back, hiding behind my sodden hair. It was hard, trying to focus on what I wanted, rather than what my body insisted that it _needed_. "Oh, Bella… it's difficult, pretending all the time, isn't it?" She smiled, though I thought she seemed more sad than anything.

 

Especially around you, not that you need to know it. I blew out a breath, trying to relax a little. Crisis didn't seem to be on the horizon, at least. "God, yes. Do you know how often I have to go to the bathroom because my aura is breaking loose? I've only been here two days, and I'm already getting jokes about my ‘girl bladder’," I grumbled. Her eyes widened at my confession, and then I heard the most delightful sound. Her laughter soothed my ears, and I sighed, warmth spreading through me. I think I was smiling almost as hard as she was, and for once I didn't care how goofy it looked.

 

"Oh my… you have it better than us, I think. It took years to get my control good enough to stay in school for a whole day, and that's without someone as yummy-smelling as you walking by."

I wasn't too sure if I liked that description. What was I, a cookie? The thought of eating and Alice in the same sentence did worrying things to my body, and I hurriedly changed the topic.

 

"If you can spend years doing it… why on Earth are you still in school?" It didn't seem practical, even if you technically had all the time in the world. Alice shrugged, leaning back against the wall of the school.

 

"It's easier than pretending to be a late-blooming twenty year old all the time. I mean, have you looked at me?" she said, gesturing languidly to her tiny body, and I couldn't help but follow her gesture. She had a lovely figure, I had to admit, for someone so… small. She must have been a foot shorter than me, since her head barely came up to the top of my shoulders. "It got really, really boring after a while, though," she continued. "So I'm glad you turned up to make things interesting again!" Her grin seemed sincere, and there was that damned nose wiggle again. Too cute.

 

"Uh… glad to help?" I said, not quite sure what to make of it all. We were quiet for a moment, and I cast my eyes to the sky. It looked like it was going to rain later, but since it was Forks, that was a given. I was soaking wet, in more ways than one, and felt quite ill, but it was still sort of nice.

 

"I should go hunt," she said finally. Her eyes had settled at a kind of dark, smokey yellow, but I'd obviously tested her restraint.

 

"You're skipping class?" I said, like an idiot. Who cares? She'd done it all before. "Uh, I mean…"

She smiled at me like I was the most precious thing she'd ever seen.

 

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing. Gotta keep that ‘bad girl’ image. You should skip too, if you ask me."

 

"Yeah," I grumbled, getting to my feet. Maybe she had a point. The only thing really keeping me in check was the water, and I was drying out fast. "Do you need help getting sent home?" I looked pointedly at my wand. She smiled brightly, turning my insides to jello, before shaking her head.

 

"Carlisle's a doctor, so we'll work something out. Catch you later?"

 

I nodded and she pushed off from the wall, heading back towards the school. A moment later, the bell began to ring, and as I hastened to follow, a thought occurred to me through the general fog of _Alice_.

 

"Hey, if you've done this before, can I have your old notes?"

 

At least I got to hear her laughter again.

 

~~~

 

The rest of the school day passed without anything disastrous occurring, unless you count some rather creepy pickup lines from Mike. He tried to pass them off as a joke, but I think he expected Jess and I to jump in his pants right there and then. Urgh, some guys, I swear. Made me wish I had the guts to skip like Alice. Though I suppose it's my own fault for walking to class with him this morning. Alice had made good on going home, to my relief, though I felt a burning urge to seek her out and drag her back to... well, my brain wasn't exactly clear as to where. A nest, probably. Or a bed. Something of that nature. Bed would be rather nice.

 

I pushed the thought down, focusing on my dad. He was more important than a random, albeit nice, vampire I had the hots for. I couldn't just leave him to deal with a magical murderer by himself, could I? Guilt pooled in my stomach, dark and heavy. Here I was, worrying about some little vampire who could probably take care of herself. Daughter of the year, I am not.

 

No. I shook my head, my hand finding the firm brick of the school wall, pressing my fingers into it until they ached. I needed a plan, and I had few allies out here, beyond what seemed a tentative offer of friendship from _vampires_ of all things. I didn't know Alice's number, if she even owned a mobile phone, and visiting the abode of a vampire pack without invitation was right out. Grabbing my notebook, I wrote a quick message and tore off the page.

 

‘Hey, sorry about earlier, but I need to talk to you. There's something I think you'd be interested to know. Please meet me at the gas station ASAP. Better if we talk out of town if possible.

Thanks,

Bella.’

 

Walking into the woods, I called one of the flock, a young male alighting on my shoulder. He eyed me curiously, chattering a little, but I paid him no mind, my thoughts stained in sickly, brilliant green. Shifting until my voice became a guttural croak, I described Alice's features as best I could.

 

My faithful crow took flight into a darkening sky, with only a face and a prayer to guide his precious burden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's difficult to properly develop other characters in a first person story, I've noticed. Hopefully, I can manage it at least with the main ones, but I also partly regret writing this in first person when I started. Still, it's fanfiction, and while it may be bad form, I will probably end up doing a chapter from Edward's point of view later, just so his arc makes sense, and perhaps Alice if you guys can stomach the fluff.
> 
> Thanks for your comments and kudos, it means a lot to me. If you have any questions or criticisms, I'd love to hear them :)


	4. One Moonlit Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella and Alice meet up, and manage to work out a few things, if you squint.

My reply came sooner than I had expected. I told my dad I was going for a walk, and he knew me just well enough not to go overboard with protective father speeches. Sure, America was dangerous, but I had no illusions that a police officer and a locked door would do more than irritate a magical threat.

Almost no sooner than I'd begun walking toward the shitty gas station, a yellow Porsche pulled up beside me. I admit I was on such high alert that my first thought was 'oh God they found me', but luckily I spotted Alice's face in the failing light, forestalling a heart attack.

“Get in!” she called from the window, and for a moment I hesitated. A car was the definition of a cramped space. Alice was wearing a dark blouse that looked to be showing a lot of skin. Biting my much-abused lip, I nodded and opened the passenger door.

Whoa. Alice, or the whole pack, must have been loaded, going by the interior. I was distracted from my inspection of the leather work by sudden and violent acceleration that pressed me right back into the seat. What the hell? Who drives like this? Alice just laughed, dark hair fluttering in the wind as we careened out of town. By the time we hit the interstate, I was beginning to feel a bit like a quaffle, and I wanted out of this game.

"So birdie, what can I do for you?" Alice finally asked as we began to cruise north. I tried to focus on the general sense of 'north-ness' I could feel in my lizard brain instead of admiring her beautiful, wild grin.

"Um..." I began, the picture of elegance. Alice didn't have her eyes on the road, which was distracting in an entirely different way. "There have been deaths - murders - in Seattle. Magical ones, AK I think," I finally managed to say. Alice's golden eyes widened a fraction as I watched her carefully.

"So I've heard," She said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the engine, her lips slipping into a mysterious smile. My stomach clenched, and I couldn’t look her in the eye. "What, no sarcastic comeback about my peerless knowledge of Seattle?"

"Alice, people are dead!" I burst out.

"This is America. People die all the time, Bella. Did you know them?" She said with a shrug, maneuvering the car seamlessly around a truck. Yeah, good job Bella, expecting a vampire to be sensitive about death, I thought, feeling stupid. My eyes stung, and I choked a little on my words.

"No... but my dad found them. He's a protected muggle. I have to do something before he gets himself killed! Or worse!" I couldn't help the sob that broke free at the thought of what magic could do to a person, given the chance. Cold little fingers brushed the back of my hand, ruffling feathers, and before I knew what was happening we were pulling up on the roadside. The woods were dark, foreboding, reaching out as if to swallow the car.

"Bella, listen," Alice whispered, cool breath against my ear. "Someone needs to erase his memory of this."

"What?" I squawked. I felt sick at the thought. Muggles get charmed a lot, but it's different when it's your dad on the line.

"He could die if it doesn’t happen," Alice said, voice lazy. Her eyes seemed to glow a hazy gold in the moonlight. I pulled my wand from my hoodie, intent on casting a warming charm in the chilly car, and she flinched, eyes widening. I quickly lowered it, pointing the tip well away from her. She followed the movement with her eyes, body painfully tense beside me.

"Uh... you okay?" I whispered. A shudder ran through her, and she nodded shakily, looking away.

"Y-yeah… It’s usually okay, but... I wasn't expecting it to come out so suddenly. Thought I’d made you mad enough to hurt me." Without looking at me, she got out of the car, rolling her slim shoulders. I followed a moment later, damp leaves squelching under my boots. She was paler than ever in the light of the moon, like a ghost. Or maybe just haunted. "I should hate you," she said quietly, looking down at her hands. "Wizards and witches have only ever brought me suffering, Bella."

Crap. This was a completely different Alice to the one at school. She looked like she was about three cheering charms short of that, but I wasn’t going to try. This was a wand-free zone for the minute. 

"I know," I said, leaning against the side of the car beside her. "Alice, I'm seventeen... I couldn't have been part of what happened to your people. What was done..." I’m sorry. I could taste ash. The inscription in my seventh year history book, a vampire writhing as his flesh scorched in pure, sickening white.

She looked up slowly, her shoulders stretching as she cast her gaze to the sky. "I was told we deserved it, for what the Volturi did... do we, Bella? Should I still be paying for their mistakes?"  


I swallowed, my chest feeling like a cavernous pit. Did she? Did I deserve the resentment and fear of being classified a dark creature like her? A 'succubus'? 

"I think people who are hurting can become monsters when the pain gets too much. And some people just need something to blame," I said carefully. "It doesn't matter if we deserve it, so long as someone thinks we do."

Alice nudged my elbow playfully and my stomach fluttered into life. "We, huh?"

"I'm only a few entries down from you in the Codex Umbra," I said ruefully, “Half of wizarding America is terrified I’m going to steal their husbands, and the other half thinks I’m going to force myself on them in their sleep.”

Alice snorted, elegantly producing a thin cigarette from her pocket. I had to take a second glance to make sure I’d seen it correctly, but there she was, patting her pants for a lighter.

“Alice!”

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was scandalized about. I mean, it’s not like a vampire is going to get cancer, but I really wasn’t expecting that from her. She looked up, eyes wide, before giving me a small smile around the cigarette, looking adorably perplexed.

“Got a light?” She said, holding it out. I looked down at the thing, held so gently between her thin, pale fingers. After a moment, I reached out a hand and pressed my index finger lightly against the tip, sparking it into life. Alice gave me an appreciative smirk, bringing it to her lips and taking a long drag. I admit, I stared.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said after a long pause. “Why take the risk?”

I nodded dumbly, unable to take my eyes off her. She positively glowed in the moonlight, her eyes closed as she let out a long, steady breath. The smoke hung around her, giving her an almost ethereal quality as she slowly opened her eyes. She regarded the red glow of the cigarette for a moment before continuing.

“I like the idea that I could slip,” Alice said with a smile, taking another puff. “Something unexpected could happen, and I’d be left wondering what to do next.”

I take it back. Alice was weird as hell. I shook my head. “Isn’t life always like that?” I replied. At least, mine always seemed that way. Increasingly so, these days. She laughed, and for a moment it sounded cheerful, but something twisted inside of me.

“You could say that,” she said, and I shivered at the look in her eyes. “Listen Bella, I’m sorry for asking you to… do that to Charlie. It wasn’t fair of me. Memories… memories are very important. Even the bad ones.”

Without really thinking about it, I took her free hand in mine. She was cold as ice, and almost as solid, but I persevered, and after a long moment she began to relax. The wind ruffled her short, feathery hair, and finally she managed to look in my direction. “Alice?” I said tentatively.

“I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay,” she repeated, stronger. The distant sound of the freeway almost drowned her out, and I squeezed her hand. Alice gave me a sidelong glance, her brow troubled. “I don’t remember anything from before I was turned, Bella. So what I asked you to do…”

I sighed, leaning heavily against the hood of the car. “It’s fine,” I said, and to my surprise it almost was. “I’m not upset.” No, her uncharacteristic quietness was more upsetting at the moment. At least, I assumed it was uncharacteristic. How would I really know? I wet my lips, wracking my brain for something comforting to say. “Maybe I could just warn him off. Show off my wand or something?”

Alice smiled, but it was a pale imitation of her normal grin. “I don’t know, it just seems wrong, showing your wand to your father.”

I gasped and smacked her arm playfully. “God damn it, Alice! It’ll be going up your butt in a minute!”

“Promises, promises,” Alice replied, infuriatingly calm. I held her gaze for a moment, then dropped it to the floor, blushing fiercely. Alice rubbed her thumb across my knuckles. I had to wonder how she was holding up, speaking of, well, butts. My aura never completely went away, and I was touching her, which probably wasn’t helping.

“Hey, just so you know, I’m sorry about the other night,” she said softly, interrupting my thoughts. “And earlier. You looked terrified. I thought my control was… better than that. Thought I was over it.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Maybe I was wrong to. “You think I’m some paragon of self control? Don’t worry about it.” Yes, I did just say I was cool with sexual assault. No, that didn’t exactly strike me as normal. Yes, provided she didn’t rip my throat out, I kind of wished she’d do it again. Relief would be bliss.

“Bella, I assaulted you! How are you fine with that?” Alice burst out, wide eyes staring up at me. Great minds think alike. Why was I fine with it, anyway? Maybe I was just shallow, and she was hot, but I think it helped that I never got the impression she wanted to hurt me. I hadn’t known her for long, but to me she seemed like a person adrift in life. Not the vicious nomadic monster my textbooks had talked about.

“I know it’s messed up, but I could tell you didn’t want to hurt me. It’s just… instincts, isn’t it?” I replied. Now that I thought about it, I kind of wanted her to say it wasn’t. That she wanted me, the way I wanted her. That this wasn’t going to be something platonic horribly twisted by supernatural urges at both ends.

“I guess,” she said finally, sighing.

“Besides…” I mumbled. “I kind of, um…”

“Bella?” She took a drag from her cigarette, eyeing me curiously. I couldn’t sit still, but I didn’t want there to be ambiguity here. I didn’t want to be just her friend.

“I liked it, okay? I was terrified because I didn’t want you to stop, Alice,” I said quietly, unable to look her in the eye. “I-I could see you were struggling, but I was m-more scared because I wanted to let you.”

My ears were burning. Her eyebrows were in her hairline. “Huh,” she said, letting out a puff of smoke. “Didn’t see that one coming. And here I thought you were scared of me. Some big, bad vampire, aren’t I?” She laughed, self-deprecation thick in her voice.

“U-um,” I began, when a cold little finger pressed itself to my lips, her cigarette discarded. God, when did she get so close? My mind blanked when her cold, smooth lips pressed against my jaw. Soft. Not like her fingers. I shivered, instinctively enfolding her in my arms as she pressed close to me. Dangerously close, considering my aura, but for now I let her.

“Thank you,” Alice whispered, her breath ghosting across my ear, which was uncomfortably warm. So close. If she’d been human, I might have hurt her with how tight I was holding her. “It’s nice to know I have someone taking care of me. I don’t know why you’d want to be close to someone like me, Bella, but I needed this. Just… stay with me?” I nodded, her hair brushing softly against my face. I don’t know what kind of person she thought she was, but to me, this felt right.

We retired to the car, talking of safer topics, like books and shopping, laughing at funny animal pictures Alice had on her phone, and by the time I felt tired again it was past midnight. Being so close to her was hard, desperately so, but at the same time somehow the easiest thing in the world. And that terrified me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit short by my previous standards. I had no idea it was that short until I went to upload it and actually thought to check the word count. Will upload the short 'chapter 4.5' tomorrow, which is a brief look into the minds of Edward and Alice during the week following this chapter.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's commented so far! I wasn't expecting much response to a weird little crossover idea like this one, but it's really nice to know people are interested. If you catch anything I've messed up on, or have any thoughts on the story in general, feel free to let me know. Also, thanks to my partner for Betaing this chapter, even though he hates Twilight.


	5. Black Flowers Blossom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief intermission. Alice and Edward have their own problems to deal with.

~Alice~

I don’t think I realized I was unhappy until I met Bella Swan. Call it the perspective of one who can see most possibilities in the present if I can bring myself to look. Call it denial. Call it losing sight of yourself over eighty years of life. Whatever it was, I was _empty._

 

My clothing designs, so often my refuge, sat unused on their racks beside my sewing machine. I’d been repeating a pattern, trapped in a predestination trap of my own making. This feeling would rear up, and I retreated blindly, finding someone cute to get down and dirty with to take my mind off things. If I was feeling _really_ bad, they sometimes didn’t make it through the night, though my last human kill was nearly five years ago. And then I’d spend the next few months kicking myself for my ‘slip’, as Carlisle put it, but afterwards, things would go back to normal for another year, or however long it took to start over. Now, I was kicking myself for not noticing it sooner.

 

I fiddled mindlessly with the cuff of a dress. Maybe Jazz would be in the mood for a quickie? He sometimes felt like reliving old times, and I needed something to take the edge off. I was halfway to the door when I stopped myself. I was doing it again. Old habits die like a bitch. Still, the house was suffocating me, I think? Yeah, the word fit, even if I had no idea what that was like. Edward had left earlier in the week, which at least gave me room to do whatever, but he’d seemed out of it too. I was tempted to peek at what he intended to do, but again, that would just make the tiny sliver of mystery in my life shrink. The tiny sliver that just so happened to include Bella.

 

Maybe that’s what made me try hanging out with her? She was the first new person I’d met since moving to this dreary little town where I felt I could talk freely. Everyone else was either nonmagical, or part of my coven, and therefore people I’d known for decades now. Everything was _new_ with Bella, and I wouldn’t ruin that for the world. I slumped onto my disused bed, hugging a pillow to my chest. Her thinking I was hot, I could handle. What I couldn’t handle was her tentative understanding of what made me tick. How she just brushed aside the walls I’d spent years constructing, and made me feel comfortable enough to share things I usually kept to myself.

 

Forget her being scared of me. The _newness_ of her was breathtaking. In the scary sense. Slowly, I slid the pillow down between my thighs, shivering as the cold silk caressed my skin. I never did this by myself. My eyes slid shut as I gently slid myself against the edge of the pillow, my worries falling away as I did my best to lose myself in the silky fabric pressing against me. Unbidden, the image of Bella beneath me came to me, like we were back in her room. I was on top of her, our legs - bare this time - tangled on the floor. I could smell her scent, sweet and fruity, with a tang of fear and arousal. I groaned, my worries forgotten, her slickness almost tangible against me as I nosed against her neck.

 

I knew it was her aura, now, but her helplessness was like a drug. Squirming, I rolled my hips, her body smooth and warm against my core. I could almost hear her heartbeat hammering, see her flushed and sweaty face, and the next thing I knew I was spitting out feathers. Urgh. The fantasy broke completely as I grimaced, the dusty taste of the long-unused pillow the worst turn-off imaginable. _Fuck_. I savagely tossed the torn thing into the corner, as far away from me as I could get it.

 

I couldn’t bite Bella. Not now, not ever. Not if I wanted her to stay. And I did, desperately so, as that one bright spot of _newness_ to my life. And she was… good to talk to. We, as a rule, didn’t change much when we stayed in one place. Jazz was a nomad before he settled down with us, so he’d drifted far from the civil war veteran that sometimes peeked out from the person he’d become. I, not remembering anything before I turned, had to build myself from the ground up. I honestly wasn’t sure if I liked the person I’d become, but I’d come a long way from my first confused, fumbling steps into the world. I used to think I knew everything, and my gift let me survive the early days, but now I know how isolating it really was. How shallow that deep, deep little rabbit hole of free will really was. How shallow my own decision making process was.

 

Shifting, the urge to _move_ unbearable, I ran outside, greeting Esme on the way past. The waning moon shone down on me as I ran across the woodland, and somewhere along the way I settled on the idea of visiting Bella. It was a crazy thought - it must have been around 2AM - but anything was better than dwelling on this, so I curved back toward town.

 

Her window latch was easy to open from the outside. I found myself at the foot of her bed, her aura welcoming me as she slept, wrapped in a tight little ball under the blanket. It made me feel the same way I had when she held my hand. Like I was _home_. The bed creaked as I sat gently beside her, mindful of my weight, and breathlessly watched her face. I couldn’t breathe. If I did, I might attack her. Instead, I settled down by her side, watching the play of emotions across her sleeping face. Her aura tugged at me, begging me to corrupt her, but despite all that, I was finally at peace.

 

~Edward~

I took down the deer, roughly checking it with my shoulder, and quickly sank my fangs into its throat before it could rise from the dirt. It struggled once, twice, and I broke its neck with a brief flex of my arms. It wouldn’t do to dirty my shirt unnecessarily. Even now, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Her scent was torturous. I could still smell her now, the thought making me gulp messily at the arterial spray from the deer’s neck to quell persistent dribble of venom from my engorged fangs. A witch. I had gotten complacent, wandering the earth with Carlisle, and had spent too long without hunting our hated enemy, wizardkind.

 

Contrary to what one might believe, it wasn’t Isabella Swan, but Alice, who drove me to my wandering. Avoiding school when the sun showed its face was normal, but Alice’s guilt-tinged attachment to Bella was unbearable to listen to. According to her thoughts, her meeting with the witch went horribly wrong, and she regretted not using her powers for reasons that she hid in the deeper parts of her mind I dared not invade. The thought was maudlin, and repeated periodically, like a broken alarm clock, to the point where I’d left the house after one night of listening to it. 

 

Besides, it would do me good to work on my control if I were to be sitting next to a brown haired temptress every week. Every week until I could find a way to quietly end her life. This was why humans, even if they were magic users, should never interact with soulless monsters like us. I’d nearly sank my fangs into her in the middle of class, and even now the sweetness of her blood wouldn’t allow me to abstain forever. Still, it wouldn’t be easy.

 

I was rusty, that I knew. I leaned on my ability to read minds in my spars with the others, and this witch with her scent of pure _prey_ wouldn’t allow me into her head. Her powers were… admirable. Her wandless conjuring of fire to drive off Alice had been a welcome shock, shaking away cobwebs from my mind. School was no longer a drudge. Something interesting had arrived to take away the endless banality of pretending to be a teenager.

 

With that thought in mind, I stalked through the darkened Olympic Peninsula, heading back in the direction of Forks at lightning speed. Not literally, of course, as I rather liked not catching on fire from the sheer friction, but fast nonetheless. I needed to observe her. To test myself? To test her? I wasn’t certain, but the details didn’t matter. If I had known of the existence of one whose blood sang to me like this, I would have sought them out far sooner.

 

I arrived at 2:52AM, quickly locating the home of Charles Swan, the Forks chief of police. I’d momentarily had my doubts about Bella Swan living with her father, but Esme’s thoughts of meeting the girl led me to believe that she did. Her scent, like sharp berries and something warm and sweet, lingered around the yard. It was almost distracting enough for me to miss an all too familiar scent. _Alice._ What in damnation was my ‘sister’ doing here? I pricked my ears, listening for her surface thoughts. 

 

_‘So warm. Bella is so amazingly warm.’_

 

A sharp sting of possessiveness. That _bitch_. I’d spent too long away, clearing my head, and now she’d moved in on my prey in my absence. What was her angle? Sex seemed obvious. As repulsive as the idea was, Alice was a glutton for such things, and they crossed her mind often. The idea of making love to someone outside of wedlock still seemed wrong to me, even if it were common in this day and age, but I shuddered to think of two women… _together._ Old fashioned in this decade, perhaps, but again, a view not easily shaken. Was that what I had unwittingly stumbled upon? No, I couldn’t hear anything aside from the quick rhythm of Bella’s heart and the occasional brush of fabric. If Alice wasn’t making a grim parody of love to Bella Swan, why hadn’t she bitten her? Or rather, as I knew her, both at the same time? It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen the thought cross her mind at least once.

 

I roughly pulled myself up the outside of the chimney stack until I was level with the window, peering in. Alice’s head was raised, giving me a sharp glare from her position on Bella’s bed, her leg curled over my singer atop the covers. Worse yet, Bella was… indisposed, but still asleep, unaware of either of us.

 

“What do _you_ want, Edward?” she whispered, so low that only I would be able to hear, her voice sharp and accusatory.

 

“I should ask you the same. What are you going to do with that human, Alice? Another toy to pass the time, perhaps?” I replied, stepping onto the windowsill. Alice’s thoughts returned to me, and she seemed amused at my use of ‘human’. A claw, stained with blood that made my body ache to taste it. _Veela,_ I corrected myself. The attraction suddenly made sense, the changes she brought to my dead, cursed body so clear now.

 

“Toy? Edward, we’re becoming _friends_. You know, that thing you don’t bother having? Maybe you should try it sometime,” Alice said sourly, getting up to perch on the edge of the bed. As if she were guarding Bella from my approach. I laughed under my breath.

 

“Friendly is hardly what I would call your behavior toward anything, Alice. In the time I’ve known you, I believe the modern term would be ‘anything with a pulse’, although we both know that’s not a requirement either, is it?”

 

Her fists clenched, a low growl rumbling from her throat. “At least I’m trying to change,” she said fiercely. I laughed mirthlessly at the idea. These cursed bodies never changed. “Why’re you even here, Edward? You’re an elitist, prancing sadsack who spends more time with his piano than he does with actual people. I came because I wanted to see her, so what’s your excuse?”

 

I couldn’t answer that. I was here because Bella was. The sight of her there, asleep, was arresting. So defenseless. If not for Alice, I could drain her here, but something staid me, even now. After all, she had done nothing to me. She was still alive; free to pass on to the beyond when the time came. Was it the hand of God, hovering above? All I knew was that Alice shouldn’t be here, with her, so I reached for the window latch, my fangs extending effortlessly.

 

“She’s _mine_ ,” I hissed, and Alice snarled, rushing at me.

 

And that was the moment Bella let out a wordless scream, her back arching as her form _ignited_. I swear I saw the specter of death reflected in the flames, and I fled.

 

When I came back to myself, Alice landed beside me in the yard, her jeans smoldering, the same wild fear reflected in her eyes. We took one look at each other and bolted before we could be discovered, our fight momentarily on hold. But not forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure about this chapter, but whatever works I guess. Wanted to have some insight into Alice and Edward's progression, and this seemed like the only way to do it. The 'PoV tags' bother me on a spiritual level, but again, can't think of a way to do it better, so there you go. Thanks to my partner for beta reading again :)


End file.
